Spongebob's 4th of July
by My Animated Imagination
Summary: Sorry for the delay, I've been very busy When Patrick is put in charge of the nighttime fireworks show, he decides not to go with the classic, launch from ground approach, and do something different. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Squidward woke up, and did his usual morning routine (Take a shower, eat breakfast, etc.). As he was drinking his usual cup of hot tea, he glanced at the calendar. As soon as he saw the date, he did a double take and fainted.

"The 4th of July!" he shouted in horror. Squidward despised the 4th of July, it was loud, annoying, and nobody even knew what they were celebrating! He heard the familiar laughing of his annoying neighbor, Spongebob Squarepants. Squidward remembered the fireworks Spongebob had on New Year's Eve, and was afraid to know what he had planned for the main firework holiday. He glanced out the window, and saw the sponge laughing like an idiot and running around, a sparkler grasped in his hand, and wearing a festive T-shirt and hat. He looked over to his pineapple to see if there were any noticeable pyrotechnics. There weren't.

"Where are the other one?" Squidward called out the window. Spongebob stopped running, and the sparkler suddenly extinguished.

"Other what?" Spongebob asked.

"The other fireworks!" Squidward yelled.

"What other fireworks Squidward? I have my Sparkler right here!" Spongebob yelled, gesturing to the smoldering stick in his hand.

"Oh, it went out." Spongebob said. He flicked a small switch on the side of it, and it lit up brightly again. He continued laughing and running around like a moron. Squidward was appalled. He set off dozens on New Year's eve, but he only had a tiny sparkler for the 4th of July. Squidward was relieved. Maybe he would have a little peace this year. Squidward walked over to his couch and lay down, reading the paper and watching a little TV.


	2. Chapter 2

Spongebob decided to see what Patrick was doing today. He went over and knocked on the rock, which swung open instantly to reveal Patrick, dressed in a festive shirt.

"Patrick?" Spongebob said in shock. "You're sure up early, and you remembered to get dressed today!"

"Yeah." Said Patrick. "Well I have a full day ahead of me." He said.

"Right!" Spongebob said enthusiastically. "We have a whole day to have fun!" he said, doing a cartwheel.

"Oh, I can't." Patrick said. Spongebob was shocked.

"Why not?" he asked sadly.

"Because I have to get prepared for the fireworks tonight." He said. Spongebob was excited again.

"Yeah, they're going to be awesome! I can't wait!" Spongebob said excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm setting them off tonight!" Patrick said.

"You are?" Spongebob asked excitedly. "How'd you get hired to do that?" Patrick was silent for a few minutes.

"Well?" Spongebob asked.

"Well what?" Patrick responded.

"Well, how did you get put in charge of the fireworks?" Spongebob asked impatiently.

"I know the guy that sets them off, and he moved away a few weeks ago, and asked if I would do it this year."

"Oh, cool." Spongebob said slightly disappointedly.

"Want to help me set them off?" Patrick asked. "I need 1 more person!"

"Of course!" Spongebob said.

"Well then, we'd better get going! We have to make sure everything's set!" said Patrick.

"Right you are Patrick, but where do we go?" Spongebob asked.

"The bus is coming to pick us up and take us there." Patrick said.

"When?" Spongebob asked. A bus screeched to a stop in front of Patrick's rock.

"Apparently now!" Patrick said. He hopped out of his rock, which closed right behind him, and led Spongebob over to the bus. They got on the bus and got seats right behind the driver.

"I was instructed to take a Patrick Star and his assistant to the fireworks range?" asked the driver.

"That would be us!" Patrick said.

"Ok, cool." The bus driver said, closing the doors and driving the bus toward Downtown Bikini Bottom. They drove through the town, and then into the outskirts. They soon reached the "You are now leaving Bikini Bottom sign, and stopped. The doors opened.

"Here you are!" said the bus driver.

"Thanks!" called Spongebob as he and Patrick stepped out of the bus onto the sand far too close to the drop-off leading to Rock Bottom. Patrick started walking out into the middle of nowhere, leaving the frightened Spongebob behind.

"Well, are you coming?" Patrick yelled, waving his hands from the distance.

"Coming!" shouted Spongebob, sprinting over to Patrick.

"We're here!" Patrick said, gesturing to a few vertical tubes that they would launch out of, and a large garage of some sort. Patrick went over to the garage and entered a few digits on the keypad. The garage door slid open, revealing 2 crude biplanes.

"Well, what do you think?" Patrick asked, gesturing to the biplanes.

"They're uhh… great Patrick, but what are they for?" Spongebob asked. Patrick stared at Spongebob as if he were stupid.

"They're for launching off fireworks!" Patrick yelled, flailing his arms around and jumping.

"Then what are the tubes for?" asked Spongebob. Patrick stared again.

"Those are for the intro fireworks Sandy will launch off from the ground." He said. "We're going to fly up there, and drop fire crackers from the sky. They will explode loudly, getting the town attention. Then, Sandy will launch off the starters, and we'll do the rest from these beauties." Patrick said, slapping the wing of 1 of the planes. The wing fell off.

"I can fix it!" Patrick said, taking out a roll of duck tape, and taping the wing back on.

"Good as new!" he said, hitting the wing again. The wing fell off again. Patrick stared at it for a second.

"I'm going to need more duck tape." He said. He ran over to a cabinet sitting against the wall of the garage and opened the top drawer. He took 1 of the 30 rolls of tape in the cabinet before closing it. He then walked over and proceeded to duck tape the wing back on.

"Good as new!" he said, gently tapping the wing. It stayed on.

"Patrick, how are these planes going to do anything?" Spongebob asked.

"I'm glad you asked my spongey friend." Patrick said. "There are a few levers in the cockpit that when pulled, open hatches on the bottom of the plane that drop fireworks out." he said.

"Then what are those 4 missiles doing on each plane?" Spongebob asked, gesturing to the 2 large missiles on the bottom of each wing.

"Oh, those are just for the finale." Patrick said.

"Ok…." Said Spongebob.

"You think you got it?" Patrick asked.

"I guess so…" Spongebob answered.

"Good." Said Patrick. "Because we takeoff at 6!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Sandy, come in Sandy, this is Patrick, we're ready for takeoff, over!" Patrick said into the radio on his pilot's helmet.

"Patrick, I'm 3 feet from you, you don't have to use the radio." Sandy said annoyingly as she stood by the launch tubes right outside the garage.

"Pink Star is ready, you ready Yellow Sponge, over." Patrick said, ignoring Sandy.

"Yeah I'm ready Patrick…" said Spongebob, slightly scared.

"Who?" asked Patrick.

"I'm sorry, I'm ready Pink Star!" Spongebob repeated.

"You're ready Pink Star what?" Patrick scolded.

"I'm ready Pink Star, over!" Spongebob said, slightly annoyed by Patrick.

"Ground control, please ready our windshields, over." Patrick radioed. Sandy walked over and closed the retractable windshield over the cockpit of each biplane, completely incasing each pilot in the plane. She returned to the tubes on the side of the garage.

"Start propellers." Sandy radioed in through her headset to keep Patrick happy. The propellers on both of the planes started turning rapidly.

"Ready Engines." Sandy radioed. Both of the planes roared to life.

"And you are cleared for takeoff, Spongebob, taxi out after Patrick."

"I'm sorry, who, over?" Patrick radioed.

"Yellow Sponge, taxi out after Pink Star." Sandy grumbled. "Though neither of those barnacle heads has a license, let alone a pilot's license."

Patrick, in his red plane drove out of the garage onto the sand, Spongebob, in his blue one shortly behind. The wheels on Patrick's plane spun rapidly, knocking sand up into Spongebob's windshield. Spongebob pushed a button and the sand was knocked off by the wipers. Patrick's plane picked up speed, and pulled up off the ground. Spongebob drove up slowly, spun the wheels rapidly, accelerated, and took off right behind Patrick.

"Nice takeoff guys!" Sandy radioed. Patrick beamed.

"Follow me Yellow Sponge, over." He said. Patrick banked to the right and turned left toward the city. Spongebob followed. They flew for about 3 minutes until they reached Bikini Bottom limits.

"Ground Control, as soon as I say "Go", launch off the 4 starting fireworks, over." Patrick said.

"OK Yellow Sponge, as soon as I say "Now", open hatch 1 and release the firecrackers. The firecrackers will fall, pulling a tab from the hatch and lighting themselves, over." Patrick waited until they were over downtown Bikini Bottom.

"Now, over!" he said. The pilots opened their hatches and dropped the massive rolls of firecrackers over the city.

"Go Ground Control, over!" Patrick said as the firecrackers crackled above the buildings, getting the attention of nearly everyone in Bikini Bottom, even Squidward.

"Read you Pink Star!" Sandy said as she launched 4 stunning fireworks into the sky. Spongebob and Patrick heard 4 large bangs and knew that the starters had been a success.

"OK Yellow Sponge, fly upward, and open hatch 2 for a split second, just long enough to let out 1 or 2 rockets and launch them up above us, over." Patrick radioed. The 2 planes launched a total of 8 fireworks into the sky above Bikini Bottom.

On the streets of Bikini Bottom, there was mass panic. People were running around screaming, police officers were trying to calm them down, and Ol' Man Jenkins was tripping random people with his cane. The army general rode to the middle of downtown in a limo. He got out and looked at the colorful explosions in the sky.

"Great Neptune, it's true!" he said. "We're under attack by UFO's! Get the citizens underground, get the tanks in the streets, set up AA guns on the tallest buildings, and get 8 fighter jets up there to take them down!" he commanded to the officers that were in the limo.

"Yes sir!" they said, saluting and then running off to do one of the tasks commanded. The general walked over to the chief of police, who was trying to help calm down citizens.

"Have your men tell everybody to go inside, and then bring about 4 others and come with me." He said. The police chief nodded, then relayed the instructions to several men, who were told to tell the other officers. The police chief and 4 officers followed the general to the limo, and sat with him.

"Driver, take us out of town. I have a feeling that I know where those first shots came from."

"Pink Star, look at all the police lights below, over." Spongebob radioed.

"Yeah, they must be celebrating the holiday too, over!" Patrick said. Suddenly, there was a large explosion right under the planes.

"Pink Star, how did you do that, over?" asked Spongebob.

"Wasn't me, maybe they're setting off fireworks too, over!" Patrick said.

"Yeah, over!" Spongebob said. Then, 8 fighter jets flew upward until they were directly behind Spongebob and Patrick. Each Jet launched a rocket right above Spongebob and Patrick. They exploded brilliantly. Spongebob and Patrick were awestruck.

"That was an amazing one, over!" said Spongebob. "Hey, Pink Star, what does the blue button do, over?" Spongebob asked.

"I don't know, press it, over!" said Patrick. Just as Spongebob pushed the button, one of the fighter jets circled around and came at him from the front. The sparks went in the windshields of the pilots, blinding them. Spongebob pulled up to launch more fireworks just as the 2 fighters collided below them.

"Woah Pink Star, look at that one, over!" Spongebob radioed.

"Yellow Sponge, turn around and launch some that way, over!" Patrick radioed.

"Roger that, over." Spongebob radioed. He turned around and launched a few into the sky, damaging the fighter jets he accidentally hit.

Sandy saw the limo driving toward her, but had no idea what it could possibly be for. The limo pulled up near her, and the general, chief of police, and a few officers jumped out and surrounded her, pointing guns at her.

"Freeze and put your hands up squirrel!" yelled the general. Sandy did as she was told.

"What's the commotion about guys?" she asked nervously.

"We have reports that there are 2 UFO's launching rockets above the city, and we know that the first shots came from here!" he replied. Sandy laughed.

"Those aren't UFO's, those are just my friends Spongebob and Patrick launching fireworks, and I launched the first 4." She explained. The men looked confused.

"This wasn't an attack on the city, it was just the annual fireworks show?" he asked.

"Pretty much." Sandy responded.

"But I thought Jim moved away last year!" the police chief said.

"He put Patrick in charge for this year, heaven knows why." Sandy said. The general and chief of police laughed.

"We thought that the show wasn't going on this year." the general said. "I'd better call off the militia…"

"You sent militia after them!?" Sandy yelled.

"We thought they were UFO's…" the general replied. "But wait a minute, I got a report that 2 fighters were shot down!" he said.

"Doesn't surprise me." Sandy said. "Those idiots probably thought they were joining the fireworks show." Sandy said.

"Actually, I was informed that the planes crashed into each other." The Police Chief said, embarrassed.

"So, they were innocent, and they're not UFO's?" the general asked.

"That's right!" Sandy replied.

"Aww man, the wife's going to kill me…" the general mumbled. He flipped out his radio.

"Commander, I need you and the other pilots to land, turns out that they aren't a threat. Oh, and if you can, tell the ground troops to lay off their fire." He said reluctantly. He put his radio away.

"Sorry for bugging you miss." The Police Chief said as the men piled back into the limo and drove away.

"I'd better make sure the little critters are OK!" Sandy said, desperately trying to contact Spongebob and Patrick.

The jets stopped trying to attack Spongebob and Patrick and lowered altitude for landing out near Rock Bottom. However, the ground force hadn't been called off yet and opened fire on the jets, assuming that they were UFO's. The jets were damaged, and fell out of the sky, nearly missing the garage that had stored the biplanes and crashing down into Rock Bottom.

"I'm about empty Pink Star, over." Spongebob said.

"Me too, use the big rockets on the wings now, over." Patrick said, launching 4 extra large rockets up into the sky. They exploded in a dazzling shower of sparks and color. Spongebob did the same thing, and the effect was just as dazzling.

"OK ground Control, we're coming in for our landing, over" radioed Patrick.

"Be careful lil' critters, there are troops on the ground that are going to be shooting at you when you land!" Sandy radioed.

"Shooting at us, but why?" Patrick radioed (He was so shocked that he forgot the "over").

"They think you're UFO's…" Sandy said. "It's a long story."

"OK Pink Star, we need to get as far away from the main town as possible, over." Said Spongebob.

"Agreed, over." Said Patrick. Spongebob and Patrick flew out to the Bikini Bottom outskirts, but their altitude was too low and they were spotted by soldiers on one of the last buildings. The soldiers fired the guns and damaged the planes.

"Pink Star, I'm hit, did you pack any parachutes, over!?" Spongebob asked frantically.

"Uh… No, over." Patrick said.

"Well we're going to have to land these babies the old fashioned way then buddy!" Spongebob said.

"Buddy. What, over?" Patrick asked.

"Buddy, over." Spongebob said reluctantly. The 2 friends drifted out over the dropoff to Rock Bottom, lowered altitude slightly, and then broke back for the ledge. They got to the ledge at just the right altitude, and the planes slid through the sand about 100 feet before coming to a complete stop.

"Spongebob, Patrick!" Sandy shouted, sprinting over to the smoking planes. Sandy gasped when she got near the planes, she feared for the worst. Just then, 2 figures stepped from the smoke dramatically, holding their helmets at their sides.

"Spongebob, Patrick, you made it!" Sandy yelled, running over and hugging her best friends.

"This was the best 4th of July ever!" Spongebob yelled.

"Certainly the most memorable!" Sandy said. They all agreed.


End file.
